Official beta released

The prototype days are over and we’re heading into a new exciting beta stage. This also means some important changes for you that currently are playing the prototype.

Since Game Plan Hockey Manager was released as an open prototype in december last year over a thousand people have tried it out and many of you have provided invaluable feedback. The feedback have been mostly positive, and the game have been praised by many, and that’s why it have been a pleasure to continue developing the game.

But it haven’t been all good news. There have been countless simulator crashes and slow site performance which have forced us to patch up the current game worlds once to many times. That’s why the beta is going to receive a fresh start. That means that all of you that are currently playing the prototype needs to start a new career if you would like to join the beta. You can join with your current account, no need to sign up once again. And you’ll keep your reputation and stats. EDIT At the moment we can't synchronize user accounts from the prototype. Please sign up with a new account and then send a request to hello@gameplanhockey.com to transfer your reputation and stats.

A token of appreciation

And hey, that’s not all. To show my appreciation to all of you that have been trying out the prototype, your accounts are now being upgraded so that you might start with a team in whatever league level you might like regardless of your current reputation. So why not take the chance and try your luck in the Golden Hockey League? Or do you prefer the challenge of starting in the Lower Iron Hockey League? Choice is all yours, just log in and choose to find a team through the action menu at your manager screen to start your new career. There are several game worlds available, one for each game speed. Note that the game worlds have been warmed up so they might be a couple of days into their current season when you join.

A little more info about the beta

Compared with whats on the prototype today you won’t find a lot of new features at first. Most improvements are behind the scenes, where a much more stable simulator is the core feature. This will make a solid ground for the future development of the game. But there will also be a couple of improvements and bug fixes, i.e. a rework of the contract happiness system.

But despite all that, I want to emphasise that the game is still a beta and therefore there might be some dragons lurking around the corner. So don’t be surprised if the simulator quits once again.

This summer we will focus on adding more new cool features. Top priority at the moment are trades, youth draft, affiliation teams and staff.

So what happens to the prototype?

The prototype will continue to be alive. At least a while longer. So if you’re in the middle of an exciting playoff round or have a killer team and don’t want to abandon it just yet, you still have the option to keep playing.

But be aware that the prototype will no longer receive any bug fixes or sets of new features and will finally be removed in the near future.